Known transistor devices can be configured to handle relatively large currents at relatively high voltages. Such transistor devices, which can be referred to as power devices, can include, for example, bipolar and field effect devices including, for example, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFETs), and so forth. These transistor devices can be configured with various characteristics such as a low on-resistance, fast switching speeds, low current draw during switching operations, relatively low capacitance inherent to their various gate structures, and so forth.
Notwithstanding significant advances in transistor device technologies, one of the limiting factors to higher current ratings is breakdown voltage, particularly in the edge termination region. Because semiconductor junctions may have some non-ideal characteristics (e.g., a finite boundary, variations such as curvature), edge-termination techniques can be employed to, for example, mitigate otherwise high concentrations of electric field lines that may adversely affect breakdown voltage. Unfortunately, many known termination structures included in a transistor device can occupy significant portions of device die area, can be costly to manufacture, and can cause mechanical stress/strain within a semiconductor device. Thus, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.